When her dad and his new wife decide to move to Cleveland just as April starts her final year in high school, April knows she’s got to find a way to stay put. Her best friend, Vi, is here and so is her hunky boyfriend, Noah, and anyway, who in their right mind starts a new school in their senior year? Happily, she and Vi work out the perfect solution, and with the help of a little white lie (okay, it’s really a big one and it tops the list), April’s dad allows her to live with Vi and her mom for the school year. The only problem is that Vi’s mom isn’t really going to be there – she’s touring with her theater for several months. The stage is set for a lot of teen wish fulfillment and angst in the form of hot tubs, under-age drinking (but no driving), boys (with birth control), and adventures with dishwasher detergent, all imagined and executed as only the popular Mlyonwski can do.

“Dark Eyes,” by William Richter.

Wally’s tough and smart – she’s been living successfully on the streets ever since her adoptive parents split up and her relationship with her adoptive mom turned hostile. Now, Wally thinks that it was partly her fault for nagging at Claire to tell her about her real parents and her previous life. Maybe she should have left it all alone. Because now, Wally understands that everyone has secrets – and that some secrets can be deadly. Now she knows that, all those years ago, her mother gave her up for adoption in order to save Wally’s life from her Russian mafia father. And now, Wally has the chance to return the favor – if she can figure out just who and where her mother is in time.

“The Pledge,” by Kimberly Derting.

In a land where everyone’s position in society is strictly codified, where each level of society is forbidden to speak anything but its own language or to look anyone in the eye they can’t speak to, Charlaina is different. She’s learned to hide the fact that she can understand any language, but it’s cost her family dearly, and it’s very hard to do. And with her country growing closer to war, it’s gotten even harder to pull off – the aging Queen is tightening her stronghold on her citizens, trying to quash the strengthening rebellion before her powers weaken and she is unseated from the throne. Charlie’s world falls into chaos as her friends and family become pawns in the queen’s plans, plans in which Charlie plays the main role. Will she save her loved ones by sacrificing herself and her country?

“Rock On,” by Denise Vega.

Ori’s spent most of his life being “Del’s little brother.” They used to be best friends, but now that Del’s home early from his first semester in college, they’re barely civil. Ori can be philosophical about it – if Del hates him that much, why doesn’t he just leave Ori and his band alone? - but it still hurts. After all, Del’s the only reason Ori ever got the chance to find out how right guitar-playing made the world, and his encouragement helped him through a lot of early bumps on the road. Now that it looks like Ori and The Band to be Named Later might make it big, Del’s doing everything he can to mess things up. Told in a fluid combination of prose, blog entries, emails, song fragments, and texts, this story of two teenage brothers jostling to find their own way in the world will grab readers from the get-go with great dialogue and horribly realistic sibling rivalry.

Join us for an all-ages lunchtime (feel free to brown bag it) OWL videoconferencing presentation about maps – our windows into the cultural, political, AND physical world. Why do mapmakers choose to show things the way they do? Learn how to uncover a map’s secrets and be inspired to make your own at the downtown library at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 10.